| OCR Text |
Show 1899.] FROM: T H E GOLD COAST. 719 important points of agreement, such as the stout habit of the body, the very broad, short, depressed snout, the very wide mouth, the long baud ol teeth on the palate, which extends on to the palatine Fig. 1. Chrysichthys auratus. bones, and the long adipose fin. A point of little significance the comparative length of the pectoral spine, which in the Prah specimen is as long as the dorsal spine. CftRYSICHrHYS MACROPS Gthr. Some specimens from West African localities which I formerly referred to this species I am now, with more materials before me, able to distinguish as distinct, so that, so far as I know, this species seems to be restricted to the Nilotic system. There are seven specimens in the collection of the Natural History Museum : one obtained by Riippell on tbe Lower Nile, and the six others collected by Petherick at Khartoum; one of: the latter is made into a skeleton. These specimens vary in length from 155 to 210 millim., and are most instructive, showing a remarkable variation in the Fig. 2. J55 mm. \20vwi-, Chrysichthys macrops. J B 5 TTLTlV.. backward extent of the teeth of the palate, while all have the first dorsal ray and upper caudal lobe prolonged into a filament. In none of the specimens is the dentition of the palate perfectly symmetrical, the vomerine band on one side being sometimes longer than on the other, or rudimentary palatine teeth being visible on one side, which are entirely absent on the other. Palatine teeth |
